Antiquity
135-425: Medieval Early modern Modern Iran India East-Asia Nondualism includes a number of philosophical and spiritual traditions that emphasize the absence of fundamental duality or separation in existence . This viewpoint questions the boundaries conventionally imposed between self and other , mind and body , observer and observed , and other dichotomies that shape our perception of reality. As
270-544: A "reformation" within Hinduism needed to occur, comparable to the Christian Reformation. In his view, "if there is one thing which a comparative study of religions places in the clearest light, it is the inevitable decay to which every religion is exposed... Whenever we can trace back a religion to its first beginnings, we find it free from many blemishes that affected it in its later states". He used his links with
405-402: A "single substrate or underlying principle". According to Hanley, Nakamura and Garland, nondual awareness is central to contemplative wisdom traditions, "a state of consciousness that rests in the background of all conscious experiencing – a background field of awareness that is unified, immutable, and empty of mental content, yet retains a quality of cognizant bliss [...] This field of awareness
540-400: A belief that Christianity possessed the fullest truth of all living religions. Twenty-first century scholars of religion, far from accusing Müller of being anti-Christian, have critically examined Müller's theological project as evidence for a bias towards Christian conceptions of God in early academic religious studies . Müller attempted to formulate a philosophy of religion that addressed
675-500: A building and being 443.2 meters tall , express what an object is like but do not directly describe whether or not that building exists. According to this view, existence is more fundamental than regular properties because an object cannot have any properties if it does not exist. According to second-order theorists, quantifiers rather than predicates express existence. Predicates are expressions that apply to and classify objects, usually by attributing features to them, such as "is
810-405: A butterfly" and "is happy". Quantifiers are terms that talk about the quantity of objects that have certain properties. Existential quantifiers express that there is at least one object, like the expressions "some" and "there exists", as in "some cows eat grass" and "there exists an even prime number". In this regard, existence is closely related to counting because to assert that something exists
945-628: A common thread in Taoism , Mahayana Buddhism , and Advaita Vedanta , and distinguishes "Five Flavors Of Nonduality": In his book Nonduality , which focuses on nondual awareness, Loy discusses three of them, namely thinking without dualistic concepts, the interconnectedness of everything that exists, and the non-difference of subject and object. According to Loy, "all three claims are found in Mahaya Buddhism, Advaita Vedanta, and Taoism, arguing that "the nondual experience 'behind' these contradictory systems
1080-519: A crusade against Divine revelation, against Jesus Christ, and against Christianity". The blasphemous lectures were, he continued, "the proclamation of atheism under the guise of pantheism" and "uprooted our idea of God, for it repudiated the idea of a personal God". Similar accusations had already led to Müller's exclusion from the Boden chair in Sanskrit in favour of the conservative Monier Monier-Williams . By
1215-440: A deep-seated mine of spirituality somewhere behind; that noble wife, the helpmate of his life through his long and arduous task of exciting interest, overriding opposition and contempt, and at last creating a respect for the thoughts of the sages of ancient India—the trees, the flowers, the calmness, and the clear sky—all these sent me back in imagination to the glorious days of ancient India, the days of our brahmarshis and rajarshis,
1350-430: A different thick concept of existence; he stated: "to be is to be perceived", meaning all existence is mental. Existence contrasts with nonexistence, a lack of reality. Whether objects can be divided into existent and nonexistent objects is a subject of controversy. This distinction is sometimes used to explain how it is possible to think of fictional objects like dragons and unicorns but the concept of nonexistent objects
1485-425: A field of study, nondualism delves into the concept of nonduality and the state of nondual awareness , encompassing a diverse array of interpretations, not limited to a particular cultural or religious context; instead, nondualism emerges as a central teaching across various belief systems, inviting individuals to examine reality beyond the confines of dualistic thinking. Nondualism emphasizes direct experience as
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#17328553393001620-520: A hierarchical structure. They believed a transcendent entity, called "the One" or "the Good", is responsible for all existence. From it emerges the intellect, which in turn gives rise to the soul and the material world. In medieval philosophy , Anselm of Canterbury (1033–1109 CE) formulated the influential ontological argument , which aims to deduce the existence of God from the concept of God. Anselm defined God as
1755-677: A higher degree than others. The orthodox position in ontology is that existence is a second-order property or a property of properties. For example, to say that lions exist means that the property of being a lion is possessed by an entity. A different view states that existence is a first-order property or a property of individuals . This means existence is similar to other properties of individuals, like color and shape. Alexius Meinong and his followers accept this idea and say that not all individuals have this property; they state that there are some individuals, such as Santa Claus , that do not exist. Universalists reject this view; they see existence as
1890-577: A life, not for this life only, but a transfigured and eternal life—again I should point to India. Müller conjectured that the introduction of Islam in India in the 11th century had a deep effect on the psyche and behaviour of Hindus in another lecture, "Truthful Character of the Hindus": The other epic poem too, the Mahabharata , is full of episodes showing a profound regard for truth. (...) Were I to quote from all
2025-406: A logical property that every existing thing shares; they do not include any substantial content about the metaphysical implications of having existence. According to one view, existence is the same as the logical property of self-identity . This view articulates a thin concept of existence because it merely states what exists is identical to itself without discussing any substantial characteristics of
2160-532: A long philosophical tradition in relation to the existence of universals. According to Platonists , universals have general existence as Platonic forms independently of the particulars that exemplify them. According to this view, the universal of redness exists independently of the existence or nonexistence of red objects. Aristotelianism also accepts the existence of universals but says their existence depends on particulars that instantiate them and that they are unable to exist by themselves. According to this view,
2295-409: A missionary, that makes one dependent on the parsons... I should like to live for ten years quite quietly and learn the language, try to make friends, and see whether I was fit to take part in a work, by means of which the old mischief of Indian priestcraft could be overthrown and the way opened for the entrance of simple Christian teaching... In his career, Müller several times expressed the view that
2430-769: A motion that Müller's teaching was "subversive of the Christian faith, and fitted to spread pantheistic and infidel views amongst the students and others" and questioned Müller's appointment as lecturer. An even stronger attack on Müller was made by Monsignor Alexander Munro in St Andrew's Cathedral . Munro, an officer of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland (and Provost of the Catholic Cathedral of Glasgow from 1884 to 1892), declared that Müller's lectures "were nothing less than
2565-456: A negative singular existential is true if the individual it refers to does not exist. Meinongianism has important implications for understandings of quantification. According to an influential view defended by Willard Van Orman Quine , the domain of quantification is restricted to existing objects. This view implies quantifiers carry ontological commitments about what exists and what does not exist. Meinongianism differs from this view by saying
2700-421: A new form of literature combining Western and Indian traditions. In 1868 he wrote to George Campbell , the newly appointed Secretary of State for India : India has been conquered once, but India must be conquered again, and that second conquest should be a conquest by education. Much has been done for education of late, but if the funds were tripled and quadrupled, that would hardly be enough (...) By encouraging
2835-463: A nonexisting object. Closely related to the problem of different types of entities is the question of whether their modes of existence also vary. This is the case according to ontological pluralism, which states entities belonging to different types differ in both their essential features and in the ways they exist. This position is sometimes found in theology; it states God is radically different from his creation and emphasizes his uniqueness by saying
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#17328553393002970-523: A part of his surname, believing that the prevalence of Müller as a name made it too common. His name was recorded as "Maximilian" on some of his honours, and in some other publications. Müller entered the gymnasium (grammar school) at Dessau when he was six years old. In 1835, at the age of twelve, he was sent to live in the house of Carl Gustav Carus and attend the Nicolai School at Leipzig , where he continued his studies of music and classics. It
3105-457: A path to understanding . While intellectual comprehension has its place, nondualism emphasizes the transformative power of firsthand encounters with the underlying unity of existence. Through practices like meditation and self-inquiry , practitioners aim to bypass the limitations of conceptual understanding and directly apprehend the interconnectedness that transcends superficial distinctions. This experiential aspect of nondualism challenges
3240-566: A position founded for him, and which he held for the rest of his life. Early in his career he held strong views on India, believing that it needed to be transformed by Christianity. Later, his view became more nuanced, championing ancient Sanskrit literature and India more generally. He became involved in several controversies during his career: he was accused of being anti-Christian; he disagreed with Darwinian evolution , favouring theistic evolution ; he raised interest in Aryan culture, deeply disliking
3375-424: A property of individuals while second-order theories say existence is a second-order property, that is, a property of properties. A central challenge for theories of the nature of existence is an understanding of the possibility of coherently denying the existence of something, like the statement: "Santa Claus does not exist". One difficulty is explaining how the name "Santa Claus" can be meaningful even though there
3510-482: A property of some but not all entities, was first formulated by Alexius Meinong . Its main assertion is that there are some entities that do not exist, meaning objecthood is independent of existence. Proposed examples of nonexistent objects are merely possible objects such as flying pigs, as well as fictional and mythical objects like Sherlock Holmes and Zeus. According to this view, these objects are real and have being, even though they do not exist. Meinong states there
3645-450: A pure state of awareness free of conceptualizations. "Dual" comes from Latin "duo", two, prefixed with "non-" meaning "not"; "non-dual" means "not-two". When referring to nonduality, Hinduism generally uses the Sanskrit term Advaita, while Buddhism uses Advaya (Tibetan: gNis-med, Chinese: pu-erh, Japanese: fu-ni ) . "Advaita" (अद्वैत) is from Sanskrit roots a , not; dvaita , dual. As Advaita , it means "not-two". or "one without
3780-410: A robust explanation of why statements about what is possible and necessary are true. According to him, possible objects exist in possible worlds while actual objects exist in the actual world. Lewis says the only difference between possible worlds and the actual world is the location of the speaker; the term "actual" refers to the world of the speaker, similar to the way the terms "here" and "now" refer to
3915-458: A rock falls on a plant and damages it, or a plant grows through rock and breaks it. Abstract objects, like numbers, sets, and types, have no location in space and time, and lack causal powers. The distinction between concrete objects and abstract objects is sometimes treated as the most-general division of being. The existence of concrete objects is widely agreed upon but opinions about abstract objects are divided. Realists such as Plato accept
4050-404: A second", and is usually translated as "nondualism", "nonduality" and "nondual". The term "nondualism" and the term " advaita " from which it originates are polyvalent terms. "Advaya" (अद्वय) is also a Sanskrit word that means "identity, unique, not two, without a second", and typically refers to the two truths doctrine of Mahayana Buddhism , especially Madhyamaka . The English term "nondual"
4185-438: A second-order property. According to second-order theories, to talk about existence is to talk about which properties have instances. For example, this view says that the sentence "God exists" means "Godhood is instantiated" rather than "God has the property of existing". A key reason against characterizing existence as a property of individuals is that existence differs from regular properties. Regular properties, such as being
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4320-478: A similar experience. These include: According to Signe Cohen, the notion of the highest truth lying beyond all dualistic constructs of reality finds its origins in ancient Indian philosophical thought. One of the earliest articulations of this concept is evident in the renowned Nasadiya ("Non-Being") hymn of the Ṛigveda , which contemplates a primordial state of undifferentiated existence, devoid of both being and non-being. Concurrently, several Upanishads, including
4455-417: A strict sense, all negative singular existentials are false, including the assertion that "Ronald McDonald does not exist". Universalists can interpret such sentences slightly differently in relation to the context. In everyday life, for example, people use sentences like "Ronald McDonald does not exist" to express the idea that Ronald McDonald does not exist as a concrete object, which is true. Another approach
4590-541: A study of their own ancient literature, as part of their education, a national feeling of pride and self-respect will be reawakened among those who influence the large masses of the people. A new national literature may spring up, impregnated with Western ideas, yet retaining its native spirit and character (...) A new national literature will bring with it a new national life, and new moral vigour. As to religion, that will take care of itself. The missionaries have done far more than they themselves seem to be aware of, nay, much of
4725-401: A subclass of possible objects; creationists say that they are artifacts that depend for their existence on the authors who first conceived them. Intentional inexistence is a similar phenomenon concerned with the existence of objects within mental states. This happens when a person perceives or thinks about an object. In some cases, the intentional object corresponds to a real object outside
4860-622: A universal property of every individual. The concept of existence has been discussed throughout the history of philosophy and already played a role in ancient philosophy , including Presocratic philosophy in Ancient Greece , Hindu and Buddhist philosophy in Ancient India , and Daoist philosophy in ancient China . It is relevant to fields such as logic , mathematics , epistemology , philosophy of mind , philosophy of language , and existentialism . Dictionaries define existence as
4995-421: A universal that is not present in the space and time does not exist. According to nominalists , only particulars have existence and universals do not exist. There is an influential distinction in ontology between concrete and abstract objects . Many concrete objects, like rocks, plants, and other people, are encountered in everyday life. They exist in space and time. They have effects on each other, like when
5130-475: Is a difference between entities and the fundamental characteristics that make them the entities they are. Martin Heidegger (1889–1976) introduced this concept; he calls it the ontological difference and contrasts individual beings with being. According to his response to the question of being, being is not an entity but the background context that makes all individual entities intelligible. Many discussions of
5265-400: Is an elementary concept, meaning it cannot be defined in other terms without involving circularity. This would imply characterizing existence or talking about its nature in a non-trivial manner may be difficult or impossible. Disputes about the nature of existence are reflected in the distinction between thin and thick concepts of existence. Thin concepts of existence understand existence as
5400-405: Is an object corresponding to any combination of properties. A more specific criticism rejects the idea that there are incomplete and impossible objects. Universalists agree with Meinongians that existence is a property of individuals but deny there are nonexistent entities. Instead, universalists state existence is a universal property; all entities have it, meaning everything exists. One approach
5535-511: Is an object for any combination of properties. For example, there is an object that only has the single property of "being a singer" with no other properties. This means neither the attribute of "wearing a dress" nor the absence of it applies to this object. Meinong also includes impossible objects like round squares in this classification. According to Meinongians, sentences describing Sherlock Holmes and Zeus refer to nonexisting objects. They are true or false depending on whether these objects have
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5670-611: Is as great a sinner as a linguist who speaks of a dolichocephalic dictionary or a brachycephalic grammar" and that "the blackest Hindus represent an earlier stage of Aryan speech and thought than the fairest Scandinavians". Müller put forward and promoted the theory of a " Turanian " family of languages or speech, comprising the Finnic , Samoyedic , "Tataric" ( Turkic ), Mongolic and Tungusic languages. According to Müller, these five languages were those "spoken in Asia or Europe not included under
5805-503: Is between merely possible, contingent , and necessary existence. An entity has necessary existence if it must exist or could not fail to exist. This means that it is not possible to newly create or destroy necessary entities. Entities that exist but could fail to exist are contingent; merely possible entities do not exist but could exist. Most entities encountered in ordinary experience, like telephones, sticks, and flowers, have contingent existence. The contingent existence of telephones
5940-493: Is called negative singular existential and the expression Ronald McDonald is a singular term that seems to refer to an individual. It is not clear how the expression can refer to an individual if, as the sentence asserts, this individual does not exist. According to a solution philosopher Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) proposed, singular terms do not refer to individuals but are descriptions of individuals . This theory states negative singular existentials deny an object matching
6075-454: Is closely related to the problem of modes of existence. This topic is based on the idea that some entities exist to a higher degree or have more being than other entities, similar to the way some properties, such as heat and mass, have degrees. According to philosopher Plato (428/427–348/347 BCE), for example, unchangeable Platonic forms have a higher degree of existence than physical objects. The view that there are different types of entities
6210-418: Is common in metaphysics but the idea that they differ from each other in their modes or degrees of existence is often rejected, implying that a thing either exists or does not exist without in-between alternatives. Metaphysician Peter van Inwagen (1942–present) uses the idea that there is an intimate relationship between existence and quantification to argue against different modes of existence. Quantification
6345-478: Is contradictory. This conclusion follows from the premises that one can only deny the existence of something by referring to that entity and that one can only refer to entities that exist. Universalists have proposed different ways of interpreting negative singular existentials. According to one view, names of fictional entities like "Ronald McDonald" refer to abstract objects , which exist even though they do not exist in space and time. This means, when understood in
6480-509: Is impossible because the world needs to contain at least all necessary entities. Entities that exist on a physical level include objects encountered in everyday life, like stones, trees, and human bodies, as well as entities discussed in modern physics , like electrons and protons. Physical entities can be observed and measured; they possess mass and a location in space and time. Mental entities like perceptions, experiences of pleasure and pain as well as beliefs, desires, and emotions belong to
6615-501: Is made between existence and essence . Essence refers to the intrinsic nature or defining qualities of an entity. The essence of something determines what kind of entity it is and how it differs from other kinds of entities. Essence corresponds to what an entity is, while existence corresponds to the fact that it is. For instance, it is possible to understand what an object is and grasp its nature even if one does not know whether this object exists. According to some philosophers, there
6750-495: Is much riper for Christianity than Rome or Greece were at the time of St. Paul. The rotten tree has for some time had artificial supports, because its fall would have been inconvenient for the government. But if the Englishman comes to see that the tree must fall, sooner or later, then the thing is done... I should like to lay down my life, or at least to lend my hand to bring about this struggle... I do not at all like to go to India as
6885-472: Is no Santa Claus. Second-order theories understand existence as a second-order property rather than a first-order property. They are often seen as the orthodox position in ontology. For instance, the Empire State Building is an individual object and "being 443.2 meters (1,454 ft) tall" is a first-order property of it. "Being instantiated" is a property of "being 443.2 meters tall" and therefore
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#17328553393007020-461: Is not generally accepted; some philosophers say the concept is contradictory. Closely related contrasting terms are nothingness and nonbeing. Existence is commonly associated with mind-independent reality but this position is not universally accepted because there could also be forms of mind-dependent existence, such as the existence of an idea inside a person's mind. According to some idealists , this may apply to all of reality. Another contrast
7155-437: Is not only not true, but the very opposite of the truth. As to modern times, and I date them from about 1000 after Christ (AD), I can only say that, after reading the accounts of the terrors and horrors of Mohammedan rule, my wonder is that so much of native virtue and truthfulness should have survived. You might as well expect a mouse to speak the truth before a cat, as a Hindu before a Mohammedan judge. Swami Vivekananda , who
7290-465: Is not really monism. Nonduality is a fuzzy concept , for which many definitions can be found. According to David Loy , since there are similar ideas and terms in a wide variety of spiritualities and religions , ancient and modern, no single definition for the English word "nonduality" can suffice, and perhaps it is best to speak of various "nondualities" or theories of nonduality. Loy sees non-dualism as
7425-420: Is reflected in the fact that they exist in the present but did not exist in the past, meaning that it is not necessary that they exist. It is an open question whether any entities have necessary existence. According to some nominalists , all concrete objects have contingent existence while all abstract objects have necessary existence. According to some theorists, one or several necessary beings are required as
7560-410: Is related to the counting of objects; according to Inwagen, if there were different modes of entities, people would need different types of numbers to count them. Because the same numbers can be used to count different types of entities, he concludes all entities have the same mode of existence. Theories of the nature of existence aim to explain what it means for something to exist. A central dispute in
7695-561: Is studied by the subdiscipline of metaphysics known as ontology . The terms "being", "reality", and "actuality" are often used as synonyms of "existence", but the exact definition of existence and its connection to these terms is disputed. According to metaphysician Alexius Meinong (1853–1920), all entities have being but not all entities have existence. He argues merely possible objects like Santa Claus have being but lack existence. Ontologist Takashi Yagisawa (20th century–present) contrasts existence with reality; he sees "reality" as
7830-512: Is that singular existence can be expressed in terms of general existence. For instance, the sentence "Angela Merkel exists" can be expressed as "entities that are identical to Angela Merkel exist", where the expression "being identical to Angela Merkel" is understood as a general term. Philosopher Willard Van Orman Quine (1908–2000) defends a different position by giving primacy to singular existence and arguing that general existence can be expressed in terms of singular existence. A related question
7965-573: Is the predicate. Quantifier constructions can also be used to express negative existential statements; for instance, the sentence "talking tigers do not exist" can be expressed as "it is not the case that there exist talking tigers". Many ontologists accept that second-order theories provide a correct analysis of many types of existential sentences. It is, however, controversial whether it is correct for all cases. Some problems relate to assumptions associated with everyday language about sentences like " Ronald McDonald does not exist". This type of statement
8100-559: Is the pure consciousness or witness-consciousness of the Purusha of Samkhya and the Atman of Advaita Vedanta, which is aware of prakriti , the entanglements of the muddled mind and cognitive apparatus. Different theories and concepts which can be linked to nonduality and nondual awareness are taught in a wide variety of religious traditions, including some western religions and philosophies. While their metaphysical systems differ, they may refer to
8235-540: Is the same, and that the differences between them may be seen as due primarily to the nature of language." Indian ideas of nondual awareness developed as proto- Samkhya speculations in ascetic milieus in the 1st millennium BCE, with the notion of Purusha , the witness-conscious or 'pure consciousness'. Proto-samkhya ideas can be found in the earliest Upanishads, but are not restricted to the Vedic tradition. Brahmanical and non-Brahmanical (Buddhism, Jainism) ascetic traditions of
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#17328553393008370-461: Is the state of having being or reality in contrast to nonexistence and nonbeing . Existence is often contrasted with essence : the essence of an entity is its essential features or qualities, which can be understood even if one does not know whether the entity exists. Ontology is the philosophical discipline studying the nature and types of existence. Singular existence is the existence of individual entities while general existence refers to
8505-449: Is thought to be ever present, yet typically unrecognized, obscured by discursive thought, emotion, and perception." According to Josipovic, "consciousness-as-such is a non-conceptual nondual awareness, whose essential property is non-representational reflexivity. This property makes consciousness-as-such phenomenologically, cognitively and neurobiologically a unique kind, different from and irreducible to any contents, functions and states." It
8640-423: Is to assert that the corresponding concept has one or more instances. Second-order views imply a sentence like " egg-laying mammals exist" is misleading because the word "exist" is used as a predicate in them. These views say the true logical form is better expressed in reformulations like "there exist entities that are egg-laying mammals". This way, "existence" has the role of a quantifier and "egg-laying mammals"
8775-404: Is to say existence is the same as self-identity. According to the law of identity , every object is identical to itself or has the property of self-identity. This can be expressed in predicate logic as ∀ x ( x = x ) {\displaystyle \forall x(x=x)} . An influential argument in favor of universalism is that the denial of the existence of something
8910-552: Is to understand negative singular existentials as neither true nor false but meaningless because their singular terms do not refer to anything. Western philosophy originated with the Presocratic philosophers , who aimed to replace earlier mythological accounts of the universe by providing rational explanations based on foundational principles of all existence. Some, like Thales (c. 624–545 BCE) and Heraclitus (c. 540–480 BCE), suggested concrete principles like water and fire are
9045-452: Is ultimately grounded in a singular substance or principle , reducing the multiplicity of existence to a singular foundation. The distinction lies in their approach to the relationship between the many and the one . Each nondual tradition presents unique interpretations of nonduality. Advaita Vedanta , a school of thought within Hindu philosophy, focuses on the realization of the unity between
9180-407: Is whether there can be general existence without singular existence. According to philosopher Henry S. Leonard (1905–1967), a property only has general existence if there is at least one actual object that instantiates it. Philosopher Nicholas Rescher (1928–2024), by contrast, states that properties can exist if they have no actual instances, like the property of "being a unicorn". This question has
9315-536: The Rig-Veda . Müller translated the Rigveda Samhita book written by the 14th century Sanskrit scholar Sayanacharya from Sanskrit to English. Müller was greatly impressed by Ramakrishna Paramhansa , his contemporary and proponent of Vedantic philosophy, and wrote several essays and books about him. For Müller, the study of the language had to relate to the study of the culture in which it had been used. He came to
9450-630: The Upanishads for Schelling, and continued to research Sanskrit under Franz Bopp , the first systematic scholar of the Indo-European languages (IE). Schelling led Müller to relate the history of language to the history of religion. At this time, Müller published his first book, a German translation of the Hitopadesa , a collection of Indian fables . In 1845, Müller moved to Paris to study Sanskrit under Eugène Burnouf . Burnouf encouraged him to publish
9585-626: The Brahmo Samaj to encourage such a reformation on the lines pioneered by Ram Mohan Roy . Müller believed that the Brahmos would engender an Indian form of Christianity and that they were in practice "Christians, without being Roman Catholics, Anglicans or Lutherans". In the Lutheran tradition, he hoped that the "superstition" and idolatry, which he considered to be characteristic of modern popular Hinduism, would disappear. Müller wrote: The translation of
9720-751: The Lutheran faith in which he had been brought up. According to G. Beckerlegge, "Müller's background as a Lutheran German and his identification with the Broad Church party" led to "suspicion by those opposed to the political and religious positions that they felt Müller represented", particularly his latitudinarianism . Although Müller took a strong religious and academic interest in Hinduism and other non-Christian religions, and often compared Christianity to religions that many traditional Protestants would have regarded as primitive or false, he grounded his Perennialism in
9855-471: The Veda will hereafter tell to a great extent on the fate of India, and on the growth of millions of souls in that country. It is the root of their religion, and to show them what the root is, I feel sure, is the only way of uprooting all that has sprung from it during the last 3,000 years... one ought to be up and doing what may be God's work. Müller hoped that increased funding for education in India would promote
9990-459: The types of existing entities revolve around the definitions of different types, the existence or nonexistence of entities of a specific type, the way entities of different types are related to each other, and whether some types are more fundamental than others. Examples are the existence or nonexistence of souls ; whether there are abstract, fictional, and universal entities; and the existence or nonexistence of possible worlds and objects besides
10125-430: The Īśā , imply a similar quest for an undifferentiated oneness as the ultimate objective of human spiritual pursuit. According to the Īśā Upanishad, this goal transcends both the processes of becoming (saṃbhūti) and non-becoming (asaṃbhūti). The Isha Upanishad (second half of the first millennium BCE) employs a series of paradoxes to describe the supreme entity. The divine being is depicted as immovable, yet swifter than
10260-472: The 1880s Müller was being courted by Charles Godfrey Leland , Theosophist Helena Blavatsky , and other writers who were seeking to assert the merits of pagan religious traditions over Christianity. The designer Mary Fraser Tytler stated that Müller's book Chips from a German Workshop (a collection of his essays) was her "Bible", which helped her to create a multi-cultural sacred imagery. Müller distanced himself from these developments, and remained within
10395-551: The Arian [sic] and Semitic families, with the exception perhaps of the Chinese and its dialects". In addition, they were "nomadic languages," in contrast to the other two families (Aryan and Semitic), which he called State or political languages. The idea of a Turanian family of languages was not accepted by everyone at the time. Although the term "Turanian" quickly became an archaism (unlike "Aryan"), it did not disappear completely. The idea
10530-478: The Indo-European father-god appears under various names: Zeus , Jupiter , Dyaus Pita . For Müller all these names can be traced to the word "Dyaus", which he understood to imply "shining" or "radiance". This leads to the terms "deva", "deus", "theos" as generic terms for a god, and to the names "Zeus" and "Jupiter" (derived from deus-pater). In this way a metaphor becomes personified and fixed. In 1888, Müller
10665-488: The Indo-European language group had started to lead to much speculation about the relationship between Greco-Roman cultures and those of more ancient peoples. In particular the Vedic culture of India was thought to have been the ancestor of European Classical cultures. Scholars sought to compare the genetically related European and Asian languages to reconstruct the earliest form of the root-language. The Vedic language, Sanskrit ,
10800-454: The academic discourse about the nature of existence is whether existence is a property of individuals. An individual is a unique entity, like Socrates or a particular apple. A property is something that is attributed to an entity, like "being human" or "being red", and usually expresses a quality or feature of that entity. The two main theories of existence are first-order and second-order theories. First-order theories understand existence as
10935-483: The actual world. These discussions cover the topics of the basic stuff or constituents underlying all reality and the most general features of entities. There is a distinction between singular existence and general existence. Singular existence is the existence of individual entities. For example, the sentence " Angela Merkel exists" expresses the existence of one particular person. General existence pertains to general concepts, properties, or universals . For instance,
11070-461: The age. He analyzed mythologies as rationalisations of natural phenomena, primitive beginnings that we might denominate " protoscience " within a cultural evolution. Müller proposed an early, mystical interpretation of theistic evolution , using Darwinism as a critique of mechanical philosophy . In 1870 Müller gave a short course of three lectures for the British Institution on language as
11205-525: The attention even of those who have studied Plato and Kant—I should point to India. And if I were to ask myself from what literature we, here in Europe, we who have been nurtured almost exclusively on the thoughts of Greeks and Romans, and of one Semitic race, the Jewish, may draw that corrective which is most wanted in order to make our inner life more perfect, more comprehensive, more universal, in fact more truly human,
11340-464: The barrier between man and beast, which he called "On Darwin's Philosophy of Language". Müller specifically disagreed with Darwin's theories on the origin of language and that the language of man could have developed from the language of animals. In 1873, he sent a copy of his lectures to Darwin reassuring him that, though he differed from some of Darwin's conclusions, he was one of his "diligent readers and sincere admirers". Müller's work contributed to
11475-590: The collection of the British East India Company . While there he persuaded the company to allow him to undertake a critical edition of the Rig-Veda, a task he pursued over many years (1849–1874). For Müller, the culture of the Vedic peoples represented a form of nature worship , an idea clearly influenced by Romanticism. Müller shared many of the ideas associated with Romanticism , which coloured his account of ancient religions, in particular his emphasis on
11610-657: The complete Rigveda , making use of the manuscripts available in England. He moved to England in 1846 to study Sanskrit texts in the collection of the East India Company . He supported himself at first with creative writing, his novel German Love being popular in its day. Müller's connections with the East India Company and with Sanskritists based at Oxford University led to a career in Britain, where he eventually became
11745-459: The crisis of faith engendered by the historical and critical study of religion by German scholars on the one hand, and by the Darwinian revolution on the other. He was wary of Darwin's work on human evolution, and attacked his view of the development of human faculties. His work was taken up by cultural commentators such as his friend John Ruskin , who saw it as a productive response to the crisis of
11880-516: The days of the great vanaprasthas, the days of Arundhatis and Vasishthas. It was neither the philologist nor the scholar that I saw, but a soul that is every day realizing its oneness with the universe. During the course of his Gifford Lectures on the subject of natural religion , Müller was severely criticised for being anti-Christian. In 1891, at a meeting of the Established Presbytery of Glasgow , Mr. Thomson (Minister of Ladywell) moved
12015-535: The descriptions exists without referring to a nonexistent individual. Following this approach, the sentence "Ronald McDonald does not exist" expresses the idea: "it is not the case there is a unique happy hamburger clown". According to first-order theories, existence is a property of individuals. These theories are less-widely accepted than second-order theories but also have some influential proponents. There are two types of first-order theories: Meinongianism and universalism. Meinongianism, which describes existence as
12150-473: The developing interest in Aryan culture, which often set Indo-European ("Aryan") traditions in opposition to Semitic religions. He was "deeply saddened by the fact that these classifications later came to be expressed in racist terms", as this was far from his intention. For Müller, the discovery of common Indian and European ancestry was a powerful argument against racism, arguing that "an ethnologist who speaks of Aryan race, Aryan blood, Aryan eyes and hair,
12285-464: The difference affects both God's features and God's mode of existence. Another form of ontological pluralism distinguishes the existence of material objects from the existence of space-time . According to this view, material objects have relative existence because they exist in space-time; the existence of space-time itself is not relative in this sense because it just exists without existing within another space-time. The topic of degrees of existence
12420-601: The election he wrote to his mother, "all the best people voted for me, the Professors almost unanimously, but the vulgus profanum made the majority". Later in 1868, Müller became Oxford's first professor of comparative philology , a position founded on his behalf. He held this chair until his death, although he retired from its active duties in 1875. In 1844, prior to commencing his academic career at Oxford, Müller studied in Berlin with Friedrich Schelling . He began to translate
12555-471: The existence of concepts or universals . Entities present in space and time have concrete existence in contrast to abstract entities, like numbers and sets. Other distinctions are between possible , contingent , and necessary existence and between physical and mental existence. The common view is that an entity either exists or not with nothing in between, but some philosophers say that there are degrees of existence, meaning that some entities exist to
12690-438: The existence of merely possible objects. According to actualism , only actual entities have being; this includes both contingent and necessary entities but excludes merely possible entities. Possibilists reject this view and state there are also merely possible objects besides actual objects. For example, metaphysician David Lewis (1941–2001) states that possible objects exist in the same way as actual objects so as to provide
12825-417: The explanatory foundation of the cosmos. For instance, the philosophers Avicenna (980–1037) and Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) say that God has necessary existence. A few philosophers, like Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677), see God and the world as the same thing , and say that all entities have necessary existence to provide a unified and rational explanation of everything. There are many academic debates about
12960-550: The first millennium BCE developed in close interaction, utilizing proto-Samkhya enumerations (lists) analyzing experience in the context of meditative practices providing liberating insight into the nature of experience. The first millennium CE saw a movement towards postulating an underlying "basis of unity", both in the Buddhist Madhyamaka and Yogacara schools, and in Advaita Vedanta , collapsing phenomenal reality into
13095-498: The formative influence on early religion of emotional communion with natural forces. He saw the gods of the Rig-Veda as active forces of nature, only partly personified as imagined supernatural persons. From this claim Müller derived his theory that mythology is "a disease of language". By this he meant that myth transforms concepts into beings and stories. In Müller's view, "gods" began as words constructed to express abstract ideas, but were transformed into imagined personalities. Thus
13230-533: The full professorship in 1854, he received the full degree of M.A. by a decree of Convocation . In 1858 he was elected to a life fellowship at All Souls' College . He was defeated in the 1860 election for the position of Boden Professor of Sanskrit , which was a "keen disappointment" to him. Müller was far better qualified for the post than the other candidate, Monier Monier-Williams , but Müller's theological views, Lutheranism, German birth, and lack of practical first-hand knowledge of India spoke against him. After
13365-399: The greatest conceivable being. He reasoned that an entity that did not exist outside his mind would not be the greatest conceivable being, leading him to the conclusion God exists. Max M%C3%BCller Friedrich Max Müller ( German: [ˈfʁiːdʁɪç ˈmaks ˈmʏlɐ] ; 6 December 1823 – 28 October 1900) was a comparative philologist and Orientalist of German origin. He
13500-646: The highest type of existence, and saw material objects as imperfect and impermanent copies of Platonic forms. Philosopher Aristotle (384–322 BCE) accepted Plato's idea that forms are different from matter, but he challenged the idea that forms have a higher type of existence. Instead, he believed forms cannot exist without matter. He stated: "being is said in many ways" and explored how different types of entities have different modes of existence. For example, he distinguished between substances and their accidents , and between potentiality and actuality . Neoplatonists like Plotinus (204–270 CE) suggested reality has
13635-425: The human mind, surpassing even the fastest runners. It exists both far and near, within and outside. The term " eka " is used to convey that this entity transcends all dichotomies, encompassing wisdom and ignorance, existence and non-existence, and creation and destruction. It emphasizes that not only is the divine entity beyond dualities, but human seekers of immortality must also transcend their dualistic perception of
13770-417: The idea that abstract objects have independent existence. Some realists say abstract objects have the same mode of existence as concrete objects; according to others, they exist in a different way. Anti-realists state that abstract objects do not exist, a view that is often combined with the idea that existence requires a location in space and time or the ability to causally interact. A further distinction
13905-520: The individual self ( Ātman ) and the ultimate reality ( Brahman ). In Zen Buddhism , the emphasis is on the direct experience of interconnectedness that goes beyond conventional thought constructs. Dzogchen , found in Tibetan Buddhism , highlights the recognition of an innate nature free from dualistic limitations. Taoism embodies nondualism by emphasizing the harmony and interconnectedness of all phenomena, transcending dualistic distinctions, towards
14040-444: The law-books, and from still later works, everywhere you would hear the same key-note of truthfulness vibrating through them all. (...) I say once more that I do not wish to represent the people of India as two hundred and fifty-three millions of angels, but I do wish it to be understood and to be accepted as a fact, that the damaging charge of untruthfulness brought against that people is utterly unfounded with regard to ancient times. It
14175-429: The leading intellectual commentator on the culture of India . At the time, Britain controlled this territory as part of its Empire. This led to complex exchanges between Indian and British intellectual culture, especially through Müller's links with the Brahmo Samaj . Müller's Sanskrit studies came at a time when scholars had started to see language development in relation to cultural development. The recent discovery of
14310-417: The limitations of language and rational thought , aiming for a more immediate, intuitive form of knowledge. Nondualism is distinct from monism , another philosophical concept that deals with the nature of reality . While both philosophies challenge the conventional understanding of dualism, they approach it differently. Nondualism emphasizes unity amid diversity. In contrast, monism posits that reality
14445-399: The mental state, like when accurately perceiving a tree in the garden. In other cases, the intentional object does not have a real counterpart, like when thinking about Bigfoot . The problem of intentional inexistence is the challenge of explaining how one can think about entities that do not exist since this seems to have the paradoxical implication that the thinker stands in a relation to
14580-465: The more-fundamental term because it equally characterizes all entities and defines existence as a relative term that connects an entity to the world it inhabits. According to philosopher Gottlob Frege (1848–1925), actuality is narrower than existence because only actual entities can produce and undergo changes, in contrast to non-actual existing entities like numbers and sets . According to some philosophers, like Edmund Husserl (1859–1938), existence
14715-520: The most-fundamental level. Materialists usually explain mental entities in terms of physical processes; for example, as brain states or as patterns of neural activation. Idealism, a minority view in contemporary philosophy, rejects matter as ultimate and views the mind as the most basic reality. Dualists like René Descartes (1596–1650) believe both physical and mental entities exist on the most-fundamental level. They state they are connected to one another in several ways but that one cannot be reduced to
14850-428: The nature of existence. Thick concepts of existence encompass a metaphysical analysis of what it means that something exists and what essential features existence implies. According to one proposal, to exist is to be present in space and time, and to have effects on other things. This definition is controversial because it implies abstract objects such as numbers do not exist. Philosopher George Berkeley (1685–1753) gave
14985-565: The other. Fictional entities are entities that exist as inventions inside works of fiction . For example, Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character in Arthur Conan Doyle 's book A Study in Scarlet and flying carpets are fictional objects in the folktales One Thousand and One Nights . According to anti-realism, fictional entities do not form part of reality in any substantive sense. Possibilists, by contrast, see fictional entities as
15120-835: The perfect manhood of the Aryan mind. ... The materials are now accessible, and the English-speaking race, the race of the future, will have in Kant's Critique another Aryan heirloom, as precious as the Veda—a work that may be criticised, but can never be ignored. Müller continued to be influenced by the Kantian Transcendentalist model of spirituality, and was opposed to Darwinian ideas of human development. He argued that "language forms an impassable barrier between man and beast." On 25 August 1866, Müller wrote to Chevalier Bunsen: India
15255-429: The properties ascribed to them. For instance, the sentence "Pegasus has wings" is true because having wings is a property of Pegasus, even though Pegasus lacks the property of existing. One key motivation of Meinongianism is to explain how negative singular existentials like "Ronald McDonald does not exist" can be true. Meinongians accept the idea that singular terms like "Ronald McDonald" refer to individuals. For them,
15390-405: The realm of the mind; they are primarily associated with conscious experiences but also include unconscious states like unconscious beliefs, desires, and memories. The mind–body problem concerns the ontological status of and relation between physical and mental entities and is a frequent topic in metaphysics and philosophy of mind . According to materialists , only physical entities exist on
15525-723: The resulting racism ; and he promoted the idea of a "Turanian" family of languages . Among his honours and distinctions, he was made an associé étranger of the French Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres ; he was awarded the Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art ; and he was made a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom . Max Müller was born into a cultured family on 6 December 1823 in Dessau ,
15660-414: The root of existence. Anaximander (c. 610–545 BCE) opposed this position; he believed the source must lie in an abstract principle that is beyond the world of human perception. Plato (428/427–348/347 BCE) argued that different types of entities have different degrees of existence and that shadows and images exist in a weaker sense than regular material objects. He said unchangeable Platonic forms have
15795-407: The sentence "politicians exist" states the general term "politician" has instances without referring to a particular politician. Singular and general existence are closely related to each other, and some philosophers have tried to explain one as a special case of the other. For example, according to Frege, general existence is more basic than singular existence. One argument in favor of this position
15930-528: The son of Wilhelm Müller , a lyric poet whose verse Franz Schubert had set to music in his song-cycles Die schöne Müllerin , and Winterreise . His mother, Adelheid Müller (née von Basedow), was the eldest daughter of a prime minister of Anhalt-Dessau . Carl Maria von Weber was a godfather . Müller was named after his mother's elder brother, Friedrich, and after the central character, Max, in Weber's opera Der Freischütz . Later in life, he adopted Max as
16065-478: The spatial and temporal location of the speaker. The problem of contingent and necessary existence is closely related to the ontological question of why there is anything at all or why is there something rather than nothing . According to one view, the existence of something is a contingent fact, meaning the world could have been totally empty. This is not possible if there are necessary entities, which could not have failed to exist. In this case, global nothingness
16200-447: The state of being real and to exist as having being or participating in reality . Existence sets real entities apart from imaginary ones, and can refer both to individual entities or to the totality of reality. The word "existence" entered the English language in the late 14th century from old French and has its roots in the medieval Latin term ex(s)istere , which means "to stand forth", "to appear", and "to arise". Existence
16335-537: The view that the development of languages should be tied to that of belief-systems. At that time the Vedic scriptures were little-known in the West, though there was increasing interest in the philosophy of the Upanishads . Müller believed that the sophisticated Upanishadic philosophy could be linked to the primitive henotheism of early Vedic Brahmanism from which it evolved. He had to travel to London to look at documents held in
16470-401: The whole world to find out the country most richly endowed with all the wealth, power, and beauty that nature can bestow—in some parts a very paradise on earth—I should point to India. If I were asked under what sky the human mind has most full developed some of its choicest gifts, has most deeply pondered on the greatest problems of life, and has found solutions of some of them which well deserve
16605-463: The widest domain of quantification includes both existing and nonexisting objects. Some aspects of Meinongianism are controversial and have received substantial criticism. According to one objection, one cannot distinguish between being an object and being an existing object. A closely related criticism states objects cannot have properties if they do not exist. A further objection is that Meinongianism leads to an "overpopulated universe" because there
16740-453: The wire came back, "Not may , but must ." In 1875, Müller was awarded the Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art . The award is given to acknowledge excellent and outstanding achievements in the field of science and art. In a letter to his mother dated 19 December, Müller wrote that the award was more showy than the Pour le Mérite , "but that is the best". In 1896, Müller was appointed
16875-622: The work which is theirs they would probably disclaim. The Christianity of our nineteenth century will hardly be the Christianity of India. But the ancient religion of India is doomed—and if Christianity does not step in, whose fault will it be? In his sixties and seventies, Müller gave a series of lectures, which reflected a more nuanced view in favour of Hinduism and the ancient literature from India. In his "What can India teach us?" lecture at University of Cambridge, he championed ancient Sanskrit literature and India as follows: If I were to look over
17010-582: The world. Confucianism Persons Topics Neo Confucianism New Confucianism Daoism Persons Topics Legalism Mohism Military and Strategy Han Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism Maoism General topics Vedic philosophy Mimamsa Vedanta Samkhya Yoga Nyaya Navya-Nyāya Vaisheshika Nāstika (heterodox) Tamil Other General topics Jainism Buddhism Existence Existence
17145-486: Was absorbed later into nationalist ideologies in Hungary and Turkey . In 1869, Müller was elected to the French Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres as a foreign correspondent ( associé étranger ). In June 1874, Müller was awarded the Pour le Mérite (civil class), much to his surprise. Soon after, when he was commanded to dine at Windsor , he wrote to Prince Leopold to ask if he might wear his Order, and
17280-521: Was appointed Gifford Lecturer at the University of Glasgow . These Gifford Lectures were the first in an annual series, given at several Scottish universities, that has continued to the present day. Over the next four years, Müller gave four series of lectures. The titles and order of the lectures were as follows: In 1881, he published a translation of the first edition of Kant 's Critique of Pure Reason . He agreed with Schopenhauer that this edition
17415-635: Was during his time in Leipzig that he frequently met Felix Mendelssohn . In need of a scholarship to attend Leipzig University , Müller successfully sat his abitur examination at Zerbst . While preparing, he found that the syllabus differed from what he had been taught, requiring him to rapidly learn mathematics, modern languages and science. He entered Leipzig University in 1841 to study philology, leaving behind his early interest in music and poetry. Müller received his Ph.D. degree in Sep 1843. His final dissertation
17550-654: Was informed by early translations of the Upanishads in Western languages other than English from 1775. These terms have entered the English language from literal English renderings of " advaita " subsequent to the first wave of English translations of the Upanishads . These translations commenced with the work of Müller (1823–1900), in the monumental Sacred Books of the East (1879). He rendered "advaita" as " Monism ", as have many recent scholars. However, some scholars state that "advaita"
17685-417: Was on Spinoza 's Ethics . He had an aptitude for classical languages, learning Greek , Latin , Arabic , Persian and Sanskrit . In 1850 Müller was appointed deputy Taylorian professor of modern European languages at Oxford University . In the following year, at the suggestion of Thomas Gaisford , he was made an honorary M.A. and a member of the college of Christ Church, Oxford . On succeeding to
17820-481: Was one of the founders of the Western academic disciplines of Indology and religious studies . Müller wrote both scholarly and popular works on the subject of Indology. He directed the preparation of the Sacred Books of the East , a 50-volume set of English translations which continued after his death. Müller became a professor at Oxford University , first of modern languages, then of comparative philology in
17955-455: Was the foremost disciple of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa , met Müller over a lunch on 28 May 1896. Regarding Müller and his wife, the Swami later wrote: The visit was really a revelation to me. That little white house, its setting in a beautiful garden, the silver-haired sage, with a face calm and benign, and forehead smooth as a child's in spite of seventy winters, and every line in that face speaking of
18090-483: Was the most direct and honest expression of Kant's thought. His translation corrected several errors that were committed by previous translators. In his Translator's Preface, Müller wrote: The bridge of thoughts and sighs that spans the whole history of the Aryan world has its first arch in the Veda, its last in Kant's Critique. ... While in the Veda we may study the childhood, we may study in Kant's Critique of Pure Reason
18225-465: Was thought to be the oldest of the IE languages. Müller devoted himself to the study of this language, becoming one of the major Sanskrit scholars of his day. He believed that the earliest documents of Vedic culture should be studied to provide the key to the development of pagan European religions, and of religious belief in general. To this end, Müller sought to understand the most ancient of Vedic scriptures,
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